Elton John Releases Second Single From New Album

It's been a long time coming, but Elton John's new album, 'The Diving Board,' is almost here. To ease the wait until the record's Sept. 24 due date, John has just released a video for its second single, 'Mexican Vacation (Kids in the Candlelight).'

The clip (which you can watch above) shows John and his stripped-down 'Diving Board' band -- a unit that includes Raphael Saadiq on bass, drummer Jay Bellerose and guitarist Doyle Bramhall II -- performing the song in front of an audience at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles. Unlike the album's first single, the pensive ballad 'Home Again,' 'Mexican Vacation' is a relatively rocking affair, with loads of room for John to pound the piano keys over a loping beat.

Per the upcoming LP's back-to-basics mission statement, the song boasts a minimal arrangement. Besides the small combo, John is joined in the clip by a group of backing vocalists -- one of whom appears to be Tata Vega, who received some memorable props from John in 'Twenty Feet From Stardom,' a documentary about background singers released earlier this year.

In a recent Rolling Stone interview, John called 'The Diving Board' "the most piano-orientated record I've ever made," which sounds a little absurd coming from a guy who's made his living playing the piano for decades. But even if that quote is just a case of typical pre-album hyperbole, 'Mexican Vacation' makes it clear that this set of songs makes room for plenty of ivory and backs up his assertion that 'Diving Board' has "everything I love about American music – gospel, soul, country."

John later joked to Rolling Stone that "it's the most adult record I can make at my age. I'm just heading toward being 80 years old and playing at the Holiday Inn." But if 'Mexican Vacation' is anything to go by, the nostalgia circuit is still a distant spot on the horizon.